[lg policy] Multilingual teaching does more than just improve learning

Thu Mar 9 16:39:42 UTC 2017

 08/03/2017 10:35

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<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/aaron-benavot>
Aaron Benavot <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/aaron-benavot> Director
of the Global Education Monitoring Report at UNESCO

*[image: imld2017_0]*The most widely read GEM Report publication is our
paper last year on language policy in education
<https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/if-you-don%E2%80%99t-understand-how-can-you-learn#sthash.zkz4m7Mg.dpbs>.
Why? Because there are about 6,500 languages spoken in the world today,
and, as we showed in that study, a staggering 40% of the global population
are learning in a language they don’t understand.

It doesn’t need explaining perhaps, that being taught by a teacher in a
language you don’t speak at home will negatively impact your school
performance and test results, but it continues to be a hotly contested
topic around the world - as recent headlines from Argentina
<http://www.elcomercial.com.ar/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=218320:indignacion-aborigen-ante-decision-nacional-de-eliminar-la-educacion-intercultural-bilinguee&catid=4:locales&Itemid=55>,
India <https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/01/indias-obssesion-with-english/>
and Uganda <http://leadershipmagazine.org/?p=12032> illustrate.

Politics and ideology are two reasons the issue is contested, but cost is
another. Multilingual teaching, the training needed to support it, and the
revision of existing learning materials result in a hefty bill. This is why
we should loudly celebrate when countries do make the leap to multilingual
schools: The Ministry of Education in Malaysia made such an announcement
after the GEM Report’s policy paper was released last year.
Referencing our recommendation
for children to receive at least six years of education in a language they
understand <https://bitly.com/MLD2016>, they announced they would be making
300 schools bilingual.
- ADVERTISEMENT -

*The language of instruction can exacerbate inequalities in learning
achievement*

New data from our World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE database
<http://www.education-inequalities.org/>) show the powerful influence that
language of instruction has on learning.

A 2013 assessment
<http://www.unesco.org/new/en/santiago/education/education-assessment-llece/>
among primary school children in Latin America showed, for example, that in
Colombia 71% passed the second level of a reading assessment when they
spoke the same language at home, but only 11% passed when they did not. In
Nicaragua 48% passed when they spoke the same language at home, but only 7%
passed when they did not.

[image: wide-2017-mld]
<http://www.education-inequalities.org/indicators/rlevel_prim#?sort=mean&dimension=speaks_language&group=all&age_group=rlevel2_prim&countries=all&survey=LLECE>
CLICK
TO ENLARGE
<http://www.education-inequalities.org/indicators/rlevel_prim#?sort=mean&dimension=speaks_language&group=all&age_group=rlevel2_prim&countries=all&survey=LLECE>

And it’s not just reading, at the primary level learning gaps also exist in
science and mathematics. In Guatemala for example, 38% of children passed
the second level of a mathematics assessment
<http://www.unesco.org/new/en/santiago/education/education-assessment-llece/>
among those who speak the language of instruction at home compared to just
8% of those who do not. In Peru, 64% of children passed the second level of
a mathematics assessment, compared to 23% who did not.

Data from a 2012 UNICEF study also show that our recommendation of 6 years
of mother tongue instruction presents challenges in many settings. Where
many languages exist, as in Vietnam, it can be complicated finding a
teacher who can meet all students’ needs. One survey showed that Vietnamese
was the first language of 70% of teachers but it was the strongest language
for only 1 in 5 students.

[image: mld]

It should come as no surprise that learning gaps also exist in wealthier
countries, and are likely to grow as more families seek to improve their
life chances and those of their children by moving across borders. In the
2012 PISA survey run by the OECD, nearly 15% of 15-year-old students did
not speak the language of instruction at home, but among first generation
immigrant students, this rose to 63%. Even as many as 38% of
second-generation immigrant students spoke a different language at home
too. In Finland, for example, 94% of primary school children who speak the
language of instruction at home passed the second level a science assessment
<http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2011/index.html> that just 58% passed
among those who did not. Indeed, in many of these contexts students from
immigrant families are among the most disadvantaged.

Overall there is a growing body of evidence that supports our
recommendation: at least six years of mother tongue instruction is needed
in order to reduce learning gaps for minority language speakers.

*Getting to grips with mother-tongue instruction through data*

The important role of language for achieving our global goal for equitable,
inclusive and quality education is recognized in target 4.5
<http://gem-report-2016.unesco.org/en/chapter/target-4-5-equity/>, the
target that looks at equity in education. One of the indicators set up to
measure this target is the percentage of students in primary and secondary
education, whose first or home language is used as language of instruction.

A good starting point to measure this indicator is to map language policies
in official policy documents. A recent study in sub-Saharan Africa showed
that at the time of countries’ independence, 43% of sub-Saharan African
countries used local languages in primary education, compared with 80% now.

However, it’s not enough to look at policies, we must also monitor whether
these policies are implemented, as Mali demonstrates. In Mali, in 2002, the
government introduced a multilingual curriculum, introducing 11 national
languages in addition to French. Yet, a decade after this reform,
school-level implementation problems were considerable. In 2010, in the
Mopti region, for instance, only 1% of schools were providing bilingual
instruction by a trained teacher, in the appropriate language throughout
primary school.

In many other multilingual countries few, if any, reading books are
available in the languages children speak. The content of education, as the
2016 GEM Report has <https://bitly.com/btwthelines> reiterated, must
urgently be included in monitoring efforts if we are to reach our global
targets in education and realize progress in other spheres of development.

*Mother-tongue instruction doesn’t just benefit learning but also protects
knowledge*

We recently celebrated International Mother Language Day, with the
theme of *Sustainable
Futures through Multilingual Education*, in alignment with our 2016
Report *Education
for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all*
<http://gem-report-2016.unesco.org/en/home/>. Our Report showed the
importance of learning sustainable practices from indigenous communities in
schools, which otherwise are in danger of being lost. Teaching in local
languages is an effective way to impart traditional knowledge.

This is a significant concern. Research has documented how formal schooling
has resulted in a significant loss of knowledge about nature, culture and
values among indigenous children
<https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/in-my-tribe-we-go-to-a-different-type-of-school/>.
Examples from Australia, Canada and the United States show an significant
loss of indigenous knowledge from the beginning of the 20th century, when
indigenous children were sent to residential schools or put up for forced
adoption.

Yet by respecting local cultures and plural knowledge systems, and
providing instruction in local languages, relevant knowledge can be shared
among generations and communities both within and outside of school, and
promote conservation of indigenous knowledge. For example, in Botswana, the
Bokamoso preschool programme provides teacher trainees with a system of
nature based educational tools incorporating the traditional knowledge of
the San, a major indigenous group in the region.

*Governments must do more to promote mother tongue learning*

The continuing neglect of mother tongue instruction in linguistically
diverse countries partly accounts for large disparities in education
outcomes. While tracking language of instruction is fraught with technical
and possibly political challenges, it is a key issue that governments must
tackle head-on to protect indigenous knowledge and ensure no one is left
behind.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/aaron-benavot/multilingual-teaching-doe_b_15233386.html

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